Singer and songwriter Julie Moffitt is about to release her second CD in two years, which is a pretty good rate for a locally based performer. Her first, a full-length disc called "Everything I Never Asked For," was produced by veteran Milwaukee musician and producer Mike Hoffmann.

That disc led to a meeting with the Burst Collective's Daniel Holter, who heard a tune and liked it. That led to the recording of the new "Stolen EP," released this week. The disc -- fueled by Moffitt's warm voice and acoustic guitar -- is tender and passionate and is the kind of folk-infused pop that made Jewel a star.

I heard her voice on the OnMilwaukee.com sampler last summer and thought she'd be a good possibility for Burst, and we're always looking for female artists," says Holter, who added that after some discussions, it seemed like a good fit.

"You never really know until you spend some time together in the studio, which I do with all of our artists at first -- let's flirt a bit before we get married, you know," he says. "After hearing her sing and seeing that she was willing to work her butt off on her own, I knew we'd be a good match. She was in that place where she was primed to take that next step and put out something truly professional and top notch. She agreed, so we decided to try an EP.

With its ace, mainstream production, "Stolen" is the kind of record that could break Moffitt out to a huge audience. Holter says he's got high hopes.

"The best surprises always come about when you have amazing players and good people involved in the project. The end result is, in my opinion, pretty magical ... very organic, very vibey and real."

We asked Moffitt what thinks of "Stolen" and about the varied experiences of recording with the scrappy Hoffmann, whose productions are homegrown and often engagingly eclectic, and with the more polished Burst team.

OMC: The EP sounds a lot different than last year's LP. Do you see the difference between Mike Hoffmann's production and Daniel Holter's more radio-friendly approach as a progression or just a different road?

JM: Perhaps a progression down a different road. Seriously, I enjoyed working with Mike, and there are some songs on that album that I wouldn't have any other way. "Movin' On," for example. But it was also my first attempt at an album of my own music, my first time handing my songs over to a producer and saying, "Here, make it sound the way it sounded in my head when I wrote it!"

I hadn't performed most of those songs live at the time, had just plucked them out of my notebook and played them for Mike, and then settled in to work. So over the following year of playing live and writing a few new tunes, my ideas about the songs and the style of music that I wanted to write and perform definitely shifted. Those ideas are still shifting, and I'm sure they'll continue to do so indefinitely.

OMC: The methods were obviously quite different. Knowing Mike, you guys probably worked on your own over a longer time and at Burst you probably worked quicker and with seasoned studio musicians. What did you learn from those experiences?

JM: There are definitely aspects of each style that I appreciate. Mike's approach rings true with certain audiences in a way that a more radio-friendly style just won't, and vice versa. But I hate the notion of being pigeonholed into any one category, and even identifying myself within a genre for marketing purposes has driven me crazy at times. It's just a question of listening to each song and figuring out where it came from, and where it's going.

Regardless of the approach, there's always a lot of down time for me in the studio -- I confess to being completely out of the loop when it comes to the knobs and gadgets that make things sound amazing. I find myself spending a lot of time sitting on the couch and listening while the producer or sound tech makes minute adjustments to things, and then when a big decision comes up, I'm a little comatose from lack of activity.

So what I've learned, after being involved in the recording of two albums in two very different situations, is that a) I require large quantities of Sugar Free Red Bull to get through, and b) I work best when I go into the studio knowing what I want to hear, and can comfortably convey those desires to the producer and musicians. With Daniel, a lot of times I felt like I didn't even have to say anything-- the words were coming out of his mouth before I'd even opened mine. We had very similar visions right from the start, so I felt comfortable turning him loose.